Cha Cha Changes
by midnitebeauty101
Summary: Dally has been in the cooler for seven months. When he comes home, how will he deal with the changes his sister has gone through?
1. Chapter 1

Hi. My name is Brooke Winston. Chances are, you've heard of my older brother Dally. He's infamous around these parts. He's known as the toughest greaser around and his reputation, though it has benefits, makes it very hard for me to get a date.

"Hurry up if you want a ride to school!" a deep voice yelled from downstairs. I rolled my eyes. That would be Dallas. With one last look in the mirror, I decided that it would have to do. I had light brown hair, which I got from my mother, and dark eyes. In truth, I had the same color eyes as Dally, but his seemed to be much, much colder.

I rushed down the stairs and out of the house, hoping into the passenger seat of my brother's waiting car. "One day," I said, shaking my head at him. "You're out of the cooler one day and you're already telling me what to do."

"Hey!' Dally cried, pulling the car over and putting it in park. "I was in that hellhole for seven months. I come home and you're not even happy to see me."

"Well forgive me Dallas, if I'm not part of your warm welcoming committee. But while you were away for nearly a year, I was at home. With our father. Alone."

Dally looked over at me. Ever since our mom died, we had both gotten punched more than a few times by our drunken dad. That hadn't changed just because he was in jail. The only difference was, for the past seven months, Dally hasn't been there to comfort me.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you," Dally said getting angry, "but I wasn't exactly on vacation in Paris. I know that you needed me but-"

I cut him off. "No, see that's where you're wrong. I've changed…a lot. I don't need you anymore. I don't need anyone. I opened the car door and got out, slamming it shut behind me. "I'll walk."

"Dammit!" Dally yelled, pounding his fists down onto the steering wheel. He sighed as he pulled back onto the street and floored the gas, hoping to cool off some.

I didn't feel bad about what I had said to Dally. The old me might have, but like I said, I've changed. I neared the school and then stopped in front of it. Did I really want to go to school today? Nope. Having decided that, I changed my direction and headed over to find Tim Shepard.

Tim answered the door a few moments after I rang the bell. He came downstairs in just a pair of jeans, so I assumed I'd woken him up. He didn't seem to mind however. Pulling me inside he gave me a passionate kiss on the lips before shutting the door and sitting down on the couch. "What day is it?" he asked me.

"Thursday."

"Shit girl," he turned to me. "When was the last time you actually went to school for a full week? Or hell, even two days in a row?"

"About seven months ago," I replied with a smirk before turning on the television set.

"Speaking of that, didn't Dal get out of the cooler yesterday?" When I didn't answer his question, he dropped the subject. "Hey Brooke….it's nine o'clock in the morning," Tim said yawning. "No offense, but I just went to bed about two hours ago. I need some more sleep. You can either join me or stay down here. Angel is at school at Curly is..,well, wherever he goes everyday." I thought it over for a moment and then followed Tim upstairs.

"Do you have the stuff for later?" I asked him as we both laid down on the bed.

"Don't I always?"

My last thought before drifting off to sleep is how good I'd be feeling this evening. 


	2. Chapter 2

I was woken up by the sound of the front door slamming. I checked the nearest clock and then cursed. "What?" Tim asked groggily, not happy to have been awoken by my sudden outburst.

"It's 3:00 already," I informed him. "School's over and someone just came home. I should get back to my house."

"Can I see you tonight?" Tim asked her, getting out of bed.

"I'll be at the Curtis' with Dal. Stop by if you want," I replied nonchalantly. Opening the bedroom window, I climbed out so that whoever was home wouldn't see me. Tim and I weren't dating exactly. We slept together sometimes, but most of the time it was only after a line or two of cocaine. Besides that, his girlfriend was one of the toughest greaser chicks around.

"Hey, aren't you forgetting something?" he called to me. I turned back around just in time to catch a bag of white powder Tim had thrown my way. "Bring it to the Curtis'. I'll pick you up and we can come back here and do it." I nodded and, placing the bag in my jacket pocket, headed home.

It was around five o'clock when Dally came home. "Hey," he greeted. I looked up at him and nodded, not speaking. I was still pretty pissed off at him. "You coming to the house tonight?" I nodded again. 'The house' was what everyone called the Curtis residence. It just sounded less informal. "You planning on giving me the silent treatment until we get there?" For the third time in a row, I nodded and then turned my attention back to the television.

Fifteen minutes later Dally came back downstairs. "If you're coming get a move on," he instructed as he blew by me with his car keys in his hand. I grabbed my jacket, cigarettes, and lighter and hoped in the car next to my brother.

The ride there, which should have taken us about five minutes, took less than two minutes. When we got there, surprisingly in one piece, we walked up the front porch. Everyone greeted us normally when we entered, so I assumed that Dally had been here earlier today and let the gang know he was back.

We took our seats, mine on the recliner and his on the couch. I was just getting comfortable when I got hit from behind with a rolled up newspaper. "Don't even think about taking my chair," Darry scolded. I rolled my eyes as I got up, mumbling something about super-man. Taking a seat on the floor, I smiled to Two-Bit who was sitting across from me.

"So," Dally spoke up finally. "What's new around here? How's school going Brooke?" I knew what he was trying to do. He knew that I wasn't going to talk to him at home and he figured that I wouldn't disrespect him in public. He obviously didn't know me anymore.

Two-Bit gave a sharp laugh. "You kidding? She ain't there enough to know."

I rolled my eyes upward before giving Two-Bit a very sarcastic smile. "Thank you Keith. Thank you so much for your thoughtful input into this conversation." It was too late though, the damage had been done. Dally turned and glared at me.

"You skipping school now Brooke?" he demanded, his voice rising slightly.

"Only every other day," Two-Bit replied for me.

Dally tried hard to control his anger. "We'll deal with this later," he promised me.

"Whatever."

"Shit!" I heard Steve curse from across the room.

"What's wrong? I questioned him.

"I can't find my damn lighter."

Reaching into my pocket I pulled out mine. "Here, use mine," I offered, tossing it to him. I saw Dally's eyes narrow. Here we go again.

"Why do you have a lighter?" he demanded, moving closing to me.

"In case I get trapped somewhere cold," I replied, dismissing him with a wave of my hand.

"Right…we're going home. Now." He grabbed my arm and yanked me to my feet.

Just as we opened the front door to leave, I found Tim walking up the front steps. "Good timing," he winked at me. "Oh, hey Dal," he said offhand. "Ready to go?" 


	3. Chapter 3

"Go?" Dallas repeated, looking between myself and Tim. "Don't tell me you're hanging out with Shepard now," Dally said angrily. "There were three rules in our house. What were they?" he demanded looking over at me.

I sighed. "No going out alone, no going to Buck's, and no hanging out with the Shepards," I rolled my eyes. "Things have changed Dallas. You've been away a long time. I have my own rules now."

Tim stepped forward to grab my arm, but Dally pushed him backwards. "Well I'm home now. And you ain't going anywhere." That said he walked towards the car, knowing that I would follow him. I looked over at Tim, but it didn't seem that he was planning on sticking up for me. Not even he would defy Dal.

I headed to the car, arms crossed. About halfway there I turned around and called out to Tim. Making sure Dally wasn't looking, I tossed him the bag he had given to me earlier. "Tomorrows," I mouthed to him and he nodded. Dally cleared his throat and I climbed into the car.

By the time we got home, Dally still hadn't cooled off. He took me in the house and then into my room, slamming the door behind him. "So this is what happens when I leave, huh?" he demanded. "You skip school, you smoke, and you hang out with Tim Shepard?"

"Guess so," I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

"Well, it's going to end. Right now," he assured me. "From now on, I drive you to school, watch you enter the building, pick you up after school, drive you to the Curtis' and Darry will help you with your homework."

"Why do you care so much?" I asked, glaring at him.

He walked to the door, but stopped and turned around once he'd reached it. "Because I won't let you turn out like me. I just won't." That said, he left me alone with my thoughts.

The next morning I was woken up by someone shaking my shoulder violently. "Get up!" instructed an impatient voice. Upon opening my eyes, I realized that it was Dally.

I attempted to go back to sleep, but the shaking failed to cease. Groaning, I got out of bed and stumbled into the shower. Within fifteen minutes I was ready to go and sat silently in the passenger seat as Dally drove me to school.

I entered the building, and watched as his car pulled away. As soon as he was out of sight, I exited the school and ran all the way over to Tim's. He opened the door after the first ring. "I was wondering if you were going to show up today," he replied, stepping aside to let me in.  
"Let's do it," I ordered as we sat down on the couch.

He got the bag and poured some onto the table. A half hour later we had finished five lines of cocaine between the two of us. We were on our way upstairs to Tim's room when the doorbell rang. "Be right back," he promised as he backtracked his steps all the way to the front door. He opened the door revealing a very angry-looking Dally.

"I called the school. She's not there. Where is she?" he demanded, pushing past Tim. It had all happened so fast that I hadn't had time to react. As soon as Dallas entered the room, he caught sight of me on the stairs. As he neared me, I realized that I still had the bag of cocaine in my hand.

"Uh oh."

"What the fuck is that?" he demanded, ripping it from my hands. "Where did you get that?" When I didn't answer him, he took his hand back and slapped me. I stood there, too shocked to move or even speak. Realizing that he wouldn't be able to control his anger this time, Dally turned it on Tim. "You. This is your fault," he cried, rushing at him. Within seconds Tim was pinned on the floor, Dallas's fists pounding into his face.

By the time I snapped out of the trance I was in, Dally had gotten off of Tim and was coming back towards me. Grabbing my wrist, he dragged me to the car and threw me in. Then he sped off to the Curtis' house.

Opening the front door, he pushed me inside. The side of my face was still red and there were tear stains on my cheek. "What the hell…?" Soda's question was left unfinished when he saw Dally.

"What's going on here?" Darry asked, coming out of the kitchen. "Brooke…why aren't you in school?"

Dally answered him harshly. "Because she was over at Shepard's snorting lines of coke!" he yelled, pushing me down onto the couch. Soda, who had rushed into the kitchen when I entered, emerged with a cold washcloth.

"Here," he instructed. "Hold that on your cheek. It'll keep it from swelling."

"I can't deal with her anymore Dar," Dally said, his voice sounding resigned. "Can she stay here awhile?"

"Yeah, I'll keep her for a few weeks," Darry agreed. Upon hearing that, Dallas left the house. That's when Darry turned to address me. "If you're staying under my roof, there are a few things you need to know. There will be no drugs. I don't want any of that shit near Ponyboy, ya hear? You will go to school everyday, and come home every afternoon. If you want to go out your homework must be done first. Your curfew is ten o'clock on school nights and eleven-thirty on weekends. You will not hang out with Tim Shepard. You will not smoke more that half a pack a day and you will not drink. Are we clear?" I looked at him in shock. He had to be kidding me. "Are we clear?" he asked again, this time his voice louder. "Dally isn't going to let you stay at home. You can't stay at Tim's because he has a girlfriend. Buck will charge you to stay with him. This is you're only shot. Now, I'll ask one more time. Are we clear?"

I sighed. Darry was right. I had nowhere else to go. "Yes. We're clear." 


End file.
